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Sunday, July 12th, 2009
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2:22 pm - African corruption
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| Friday, July 10th, 2009
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1:19 pm - SAHM
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I'm a stay at home mom today and it feels great. It's quiet & peaceful and already I miss my mom who's travelling this weekend. It seems that baby has taken up all the time while she's normally here and I'm wishing that I could have this quiet time with her.
This may not be the first time I've been home alone with baby, but it sure is the first time I have actively wished I had MORE of this time before I needed return to work. By accident or otherwise, baby's doing exactly as she is supposed to and on schedule so far. *Hope I don't jinx it*.
So as my first order of SAHM business, I need to rant about strollers.
Many Americans hardly walk anywhere, except for that occasional stroll in the park, and inside department stores or the mall. While shopping, you can place your baby in a shopping cart (in or out of the infant seat). So I really don't understand the HUGE market and hubbub about strollers. Why is the stroller market so big and so complex ?
From the house to the car hardly requires a stroller. From the car to the store hardly requires a stroller. Maybe for the odd fair, or 4th of July celebration with a picnic in the park - sure a stroller is useful, but consider the nature and frequency of such use, isn't lifting your own kid (in a sling, carrier or just in your arms) adequate ? After all, pushing a stroller requires one, if not both hands anyway.
Maybe I am the naive mom of a 12lbs 9oz baby, and I don't yet realize that once they get heavier, supporting their weight on one's body is too cumbersome. But even so the stroller would be used so occasionally that I don't get the depth of features and choices.
Now for people who want to tote their kid when they go running or bicycling, & a cart isn't built into the experience, a stroller makes sense. So I wonder what %-age of the American 1st & 2nd year parents actually do enough activities that don't involve a cart anyway. Obviously enough to justify the market...
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| Thursday, July 9th, 2009
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8:44 pm - Frustration
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Most of the time I love my baby. She's wonderful and quite a joy.
But some of the time she's EXTRAORDINARILY FRUSTRATING. And a super pain in the ass from hell.
No wonder it takes a strong marriage. It's easy to turn baby related & transition related frustration onto the spouse. Sigh, I have to go away for a while & remind myself that she did not ask to be born.
current mood:  aggravated
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4:13 pm - Continue to be un-impressed with the Mac
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Still unimpressed with the Mac:
1) File management: Can't copy files from my computer to a USB memory stick. It gives me strange errors and when it does appear to copy them, the files are not accessible from any other computer.
2) Preview: Importing a scanned file from a scanner is a pain. Even though multiple pages are scanned Preview only shows me the first page. Even if I change the setting to scan it in pdf format, it will scan it in tiff format ONLY. Preview's import setting is essentially useless.
3) Every time my computer has to be woken up from power saving, the Mac asks me whether I should connect my INTERNAL keyboard and INTERNAL trackpad to the Mac or my Virtual Machine. WTF ? It thinks that the internal keyboard & trackpad are external devices. Fool.
4) Peripherals when connected via USB ports keep asking whether to connect to the Mac or my Virtual machine. Even if I check the box that says "remember this association", it constantly has to ask.
5) The Mac can't keep track of my bluetooth mouse (supposedly designed for use by the Mac). Bluetooth constantly has problems staying on. I have to turn it off and turn it back on again.
The whole "it just works" thing is a hoax. It works better than Windows, but that's about it.
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| Wednesday, July 1st, 2009
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10:58 am - Ageing baby
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The terms are somewhat loose, but in general:
Birth - 2 months: Newborn
2 months - 1 year: Infant
1 year - 2 years: Baby (although airlines still say Infant until age 2)
2 years - 3 years: Toddler
3 years - 11 years: Child
11 years - 15 years: Adolescent
15 years - 19 years: Young adult
19 years - 22 years: Young / New adult
22 years - 42 years: Adult
42 years - 67 years: Middle aged
67 years - 84 years: Retired / Senior
84 years & up : Aged / Mature
My newborn has grown up to being an infant. Already I can see her size and shape maturing. No more does she have this teeny little head with ALL mouth that opens to eclipse her face. Now her mouth is a rosebud and proportionate to her head. Her head, though, will change in proportion to her body by and by.
current mood: Temporal
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| Saturday, June 27th, 2009
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12:34 am - Breastfeeding
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The phrase can be hard to say in "polite" company. Somewhere in our social customs, the breast has lost its original utilitarian purpose and become exclusively sexual, covered up with other "unmentionable" parts and functions.
The result is that breast feeding has become nearly extinct in the public eye. It happens behind closed doors or curtains, and there are places that have specifically passed laws to declare that exposure of the breast as a result of nursing is NOT obscenity (ie - where this law is NOT in effect, a nursing child is considered obscene). Children don't ever remember seeing anyone being breast-fed and the cycle continues.
Mind you, I'm no hippy fan of breast exposure. In the same way that I think other bodily functions also should remain behind the scenes. (Although I must admit that there is beauty in seeing an infant nurse - there is contentment and instinctual survival packaged as a reminder of our elemental nature as animals). What irks me is that there are so many problems associated with breast feeding that are difficult to address because it falls into a taboo category.
Just as hemorrhoids are difficult to discuss, and just as it may take a monumental effort for a teenager to resolve a urinary tract infection, the very private breast is also in the dark when it comes to diagnosis, treatment, even awareness of problems. Breast feeding is not as instinctive as one would hope or think that it should be. I suppose the instinct comes from observation, which has been tucked away outside social realms.
In most circumstances, this social cover up is acceptable. But when it comes to breast feeding, there is an entire life at stake - the infant's! I feel that it is a bit unfair on the poor instinctual creature that its sole source of survival must be hidden behind social layers of decency.
Childbirth itself strips away so many layers of our social niceties, exposing us for the mammals that we are. But the cover up is rapid and immediate. Our rawness is quickly cloaked again. Even in our infancy we are forbidden from exploring ourselves as we are. More than the pain of child birth, I believe that women fear the exposure from stripping away all the social fabric we hold so tightly around us.
Perfectly functioning and miraculously formed body parts go unnamed and unmentioned. Babies learn about their noses, their ears, their cheeks and their bellies, but rarely do they learn about their vulvas, their nipples or their scrotums.
A truly natural food source becomes unnatural. Ingredients that are tested on lab rats, have multiple unpronounceable syllables and nothing derived directly from nature becomes more "natural" to mix with water in a bottle.
It is the way of the world. But when there is a little life, its immunities and health on the line*, it's worth making peace with peeling some of those layers away for a while.
From www.hipfamily.com - and originally from www.foodandhealth.com
* Natural pain relief
* Better hand-eye coordination
* Better health & lower risk of various diseases for mom & baby
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| Thursday, June 25th, 2009
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7:48 pm - Cycle Jaikishan
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Undoubtedly one of the most popular, most well known and distinctive entertainers of my lifetime. Unlike my husband, I liked his later work more than his earlier work. Although Thriller and Bad feature in my music collection, I absolutely LOVE all the songs in Dangerous.
Like millions across the globe, I too had a poster of Michael in my adolescent bedroom. For the older generation in India, he was synonymous with western music. He has been referred to as Cycle Jaikishan, or simply "Mykill".
Although I didn't spend as much time thinking about it while he was alive, I never really believed that he was a pedophile or had wronged any child. This was just my gut reaction, perhaps because I simply liked his music. Reading about it again now, I continue to feel that he was innocent. His drug habit began as a result of the pedophilia accusations & a man with so much of a spotlight on him must find it incredibly difficult to have a good sense of how he is perceived. I didn't know until today that he had an incredibly abusive childhood and that his parents are alive today and were at the hospital.
I didn't know until just now that he did not bleach his skin to be more white. He had serious skin diseases that he was covering up. His first rhinoplasty was necessitated from having broken it during a dance routine. I have wronged him in assuming several things about the way he looks.
He was bizarre, no doubt, and had multiple eccentricities, but his death today brings me a perspective on him as a decent man, one of the greatest entertainers, a victim of media attention, fighting for privacy and breaking under the stress of accusations.
Michael, you were already a legend when you were alive. Rest in peace.
current mood:  sad
current music: Who is it - tied with Jam for my fav Jackson song
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1:41 am - Iran - who burns & when ?
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![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) davidkevin's post on the ongoing Iranian struggle surfaces an age old question in my mind. How does a person comprehend their individual power when part of a collective ? How does one choose passion over pragmatism ?
When one is young, one is passionate and idealistic. This is the time for demonstrations, for parades, to stand up for one beliefs in the face of danger and opposition. Fear is low and the life one stands to lose hasn't begun yet in earnest. Revolutionaries are often born in the passion of youth. Rapid change can emerge in this age.
As life progresses, one's ideals dim in the light of the more complex reality. One's struggle to chart a life path consumes passionate fervor in favor of pragmatism. Apathy and acceptance gain prominence. Although change is possible, it is likely to be measured and slow, practical and planned. Its pace accommodates the efforts made to chart that path. The fear of losing efforts so far is higher, and the expression of passion is appropriately moderated.
Protesting, demonstrating a belief, given the dangers contained can be considered foolish or idealistic. How does one choose between the practical nature of that fear and the passionate hope of success ? After all, it is only if enough people choose the risk can that risk actually be mitigated through potential success.
With a civic process especially, it is very difficult for an individual to believe that his voice is heard in the chorus. Apathy is too easy, even in youth, because the collective concept is fundamentally difficult to grasp. And yet when everyone thinks that their little bit of trash on the street will make no difference, or does not vote because they say the choices available to them are not worth the effort - the urban streets of India emerge.
It begs the questions provoked by davidkevin - would the Iranians have accepted the Floridian ballot count of 2000 ?
I salute the idealism they bring to the streets. I salute their education which allows them to believe in their individual power within the collective. I hope the world is watching and learning from them.
current mood: somber
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| Wednesday, June 24th, 2009
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3:34 am - IDP & ARE
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My long term career goal is to be a Project Manager, preferably for large international design or construction projects. The path I've charted out for myself contains the following steps:
* Complete the IDP (Intern Development Program) credits through working and gaining exposure to Architecture
* Study for the ARE (Architectural Registration Exams - 7 of them)
* Take & pass these exams (Years 2 & 3)
* Obtain my architectural license & registration & practice as a licensed architect (Year 4, 5)
* Move to Project Management of $2m to $15m projects (Year 5, 6)
* Increase project size & exposure (Year 7, 8, 9)
IDP & ARE are 6 important letters in my career. I've almost completed all the requirements of the Intern Development Program and I am looking forward to the day it gets ratified and approved by the concerned parties.
I have been postponing learning about the ARE's until I was well underway with the IDP, and finally that time has come.
It took me this long to gain the confidence in my experience to be even able to report it. And I have found that IDP never required me to have as much exposure as I do already. A lesson that confidence can go a long way and lack of it can be very limiting.
All this means starting to study for the exams this year. I'm very excited. A bit annoyed because I could have gotten here much earlier. A good illustration that I am not as focussed and ambitious as I would like to be, or as others I know are.
Still, I'm here, roughly within the timeline that I intended for myself.
current mood:  excited
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| Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009
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12:54 pm - Pakistan
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I have a higher opinion of Zardari after reading this news article.
Seems like we should all be sending our money to build schools in Pakistan.
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| Monday, June 22nd, 2009
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10:04 pm - "Imaginary political persecution"
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chaibacca has made an excellent point that resonates well with me. There are too many people who enjoy the feeling of outrage. Indignation sells, it evokes, provokes and mobilizes. But I believe that is a baser human emotion and those who stoke it are doing humanity a disservice.
Those who enjoy being outraged may enjoy "imaginary political (or social, or religious) persecution". It bothers me in just the same way he articulates so well. Why are people creating an imaginary enemy to be bothered by. Wouldn't it be better if they simply embraced differences without being scared by it enough to create an exaggerated and fictitious "offender" to be up in arms about ?!
As Leonard Pitts Jr. says in the article, "Victimology is as addictive as crack -- and as mentally damaging."
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9:44 pm - Iran
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Kudos for the current US govt.'s attitude in Iran. Iranians must win their battles and settle their disputes on their own. "Help" would be patronizing at best and cause repetitive problems (proven by history) at worst. Politically it would be shooting oneself in the foot for any country to take sides.
It's amazing how the Iranians are speaking out. The makings of a revolution. I just hope that they are able to determine with certainty whether their voices make the majority, or just the close runner-up. It's the margin of the win that is hard to accept blindly.
These images are powerful storytellers.
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| Sunday, June 21st, 2009
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5:02 am - Contributors to the world
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Came across an interesting person who is so clearly contributing and making the world a more interesting and better place.
Every person has their value. There are many who are inwardly focussed who live their lives for themselves. Their contribution to the world at large may be incidental or indirect. I make no value judgement in this, but I do admire the contributions of those who are active and direct achievers.
I discovered Yee Man Chan while googling for information on Nutrition & Exercise physiology. Impressed by his extensive and well presented information on the subject, I explored the rest of his online presence. I discovered an impressive person with a huge variety of intellectual interests, with the focus to delve deeply, the intelligence to pull things together, and the linguistic and perspective skills to be able to re-present that data usefully for quick absorption.
This guy is a Unix programmer. But his list of publications wouldn't immediately lend itself to guessing it. My particular interests and inclinations leads me to admire his desire to learn and share. He commands my respect and an entire blog entry. Hopefully the skills and energy he provides the world is not cancelled out by ego.
current mood:  impressed
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4:00 am - Parental love
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The intensity of parental love is catching up with me. Like any love it has its rewards, and it's too late for me to have any choice in the matter. But I admit that feeling so immersed in emotion isn't desirable. To love so intensely is unsettling and uncomfortable. If the Buddha is to be believed, is not the attachment I am forming spiritually regressive ?
Why is the man is called back from his pursuit of Sanyaas to immerse himself as a Grihastha ?
The propagation of our species is in absolutely no danger whatsoever. Yet our evolutionary instincts lag critically behind. Our bodies are way behind the evolution of food technology, and our souls are not in sync with the world's ongoing imbalance with the infectious spread of human life.
So what is the larger purpose of this love and attachment ? Is our destiny as humans integrally linked with this enjoyment ? Or is this sort of enjoyment part of the joys of life itself - and if so, part of the purpose of our lives ? Or is it yet another test in balance of all things, emotions, actions and achievements in our lives ?
If finding the answers to the questions of parental love will better me, then I'm still within my realm of purpose.
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| Friday, June 19th, 2009
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1:28 pm - Music & a maama
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In the 1970's, fusion between Indian & Western music was unheard of. The Beatles had a few songs with Sitar (Norwegian Wood for ex) influenced by their time with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in India. But other than that, there was no Trilok Gurtu, no Colonial Cousins, and no A.R. Rehman.
Indian musicians considered it a sacrilege & certainly no musician delving into western music would have been taken seriously. Ananda Shankar was a visionary at the time, wanting to fuse the two musical worlds. He returned from a tour of the U.S. after playing with the likes of Jimmy Hendrix & solidified his vision by getting musicians together to form a band.
My uncle, son of a Veena player and from a family of some extremely serious classical music buffs was not even 20 years old in the late 70's. He toured with Ananda Shankar, playing the mirudangam for a least 2 (or more?) of his albums & giving performances. He had the time of his life being on the cutting edge of music.
The nature of Shankar's group & their success was a recipe for hedonism. It is likely that my uncle's penchant for intoxicants began here. Later in life he was bored with the lack of innovation in music and he didn't play as much as he would have liked to.
My mother recalls his stories of a concert when many of the musicians were drunk - and when they took over for the drum solo, they never stopped, watching Ananda Shankar's growing frustration in great glee. And another concert where half of the orchestra tuned to one pitch while the other half tuned to another pitch. In her re-telling I can sense the joy with which he himself must have recollected these events.
( More about my uncle )
Sigh. I can only be glad that he died before his body deteriorated causing him pain and indignities. I feel a mixture of anger and sadness. Anger at him for dying and sadness that it is futile.
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2:25 am - Music around the world
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An impressive project to add musicians around the world and have them send footage of themselves to stitch together into this global video:
current music: Chanda Mama
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| Thursday, June 18th, 2009
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10:22 pm - Another low day
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For posterity, it's worth recording another low day in the motherhood journal. Baby is having a hard time eating. She pulls away screaming and in pain. Feedings take upwards of an hour and a half, sometimes more with numerous punctuation.
I feel so frustratingly stuck. Can't plan anything, can't go out to do simple errands.
My body is tired and physically worn out from nursing for so long as well as from hearing her cry. My father says, "if you can't handle an hour & 45 mins of nursing and crying you are not a mature mother". No matter how much a man is taught to "accept" and anticipate it, I am sure he would wear a lot faster than that if a screaming creature were sucking at his balls for survival.
Baby has some happy waking time, and there's lot of smiling going on, but that's about the only change from 2 weeks ago. There is still no sense of cognition on the baby's part. There's still many hours of discomfort for the poor girl & as a consequence for me as well. She's not responsive in any directed manner and it certainly does not feel like I can comfort her during her discomfort. Tiresome.
It's very hard to keep negative feelings and a general weariness at bay. I have to fight myself very hard to not feel either disappointed or annoyed at everyone and everything, or sorry for myself. Trying to stay neutral or positive also takes a lot of energy.
And unconnected to motherhood, but doesn't help the mood: Today, one year ago, my uncle died. As my aunt said - rational acceptance is one thing. But reliving or imagining those moments from a year ago is the unavoidable and irrational response.
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| Monday, June 15th, 2009
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10:57 pm - Parenting styles
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We've seen a range of parenting styles. The families we've enjoyed the most and would most like to emulate are those whose lives are not child centric, and who are able to embrace their child into their own lives with a casual ease about including rather than excluding the rest of the world.
As we begin our own journey, I am thinking that parenting begins as a responsive act, and may (or may not) change into an actively designed effort. I don't mean specific parenting factors or goals, but an overall style - casual or heavy handed, protective or open, structured or easy-going etc.
Parents may begin with a conscious or unconscious desire of a style - based on one they've seen or even one that they had as children. If there are two unconscious factors that set the stage for parenting styles, I think it would be how needy, fussy, happy or unhappy a baby is, and how prepared and knowledgeable the parents are - or how far parents expectations are from reality.
Like classic nature and nurture, how easy (or not) a baby is depends on their own personalities & health but also as a result of parents knowledge and expectations. So far, despite the difficulties, I would say that I think we're blessed with a somewhat "easy" child by nature and health. And I am observing that as I gain knowledge and skills (some from books, some from others and only very little from intuition and instinct), I am actively increasing this "ease".
A difficult baby with gastric issues, or one that has trouble getting nights and days straight may set the parents seeking relief for both themselves and baby. If this relief comes in the form of structured routine and predictability, it is likely that such a rigor will continue in the parent-toddler relationship. Similarly if the parents expectations about sleep, or their bodily need for sleep is higher than the baby allows, they may seek relief in structured routine and therefore begin a cyclical parenting style of predictable schedules.
If a parent really wants a non structured life, and the only relief they find for their infant is structure, they may not have a choice early on. Although it is likely that as the baby grows up into a toddler, the parent will also find a way to decrease the structure - unless they are fearful or insecure about their abilities without such structure.
I guess I'm thinking aloud that there is some luck and some conscious effort in setting a tone for parenting style. And I think we have luck on our side with our baby, so as to be able to direct our efforts successfully into our desired style.
current mood:  inquisitive
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12:55 pm - Week 7 - motherhood and childhood both seem vastly better
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Baby (and I) had a tough few weeks from Week 3 to 6. Reflux, gas, fungal infection - all of which leading to fussiness & pain that we couldn't really address. Weeks 3 & 4 I was still healing, and she was developing some issues. Weeks 5 & 6, she seemed unhappy & the work seemed unrewarding. Nursing continues to be quite challenging - infection, forceful let-down - hard to diagnose and hard to treat issues.
Overall, I've been learning more (huge spike in knowledge yesterday) and she's been getting both more expressive and feeling better. Her system must be maturing, but there was improvement from stopping all medications (I felt that I was no worse pain off it and she seemed better). So I have the sense of what a difficult baby must be like. But despite her pain, she's been relatively mellow & patient. Her cries, although strong, have never shattered the ear-drum.
In the last 3 days (Day 45, 46, 47), she has been feeling increasingly better. Her cries are almost all gone - she makes noises that communicate before it turns to crying. She now has awake time that is not just pain (or concentrated grunty-pooping). Her gaze is more focussed and directed lately and so are her smiles. With the help of a book and probably her evolution, she is becoming more predictable too and has more recognizable needs. Her communication is improving and she has a variety of sounds - she's starting to koo and goo and gah and make those sweet baby noises that melt the heart.
Cloth diapering is also starting to get a easier. Predictability is increasing but also the flat fold techniques are fitting a little better without leaking. Getting the right cloth for which the snappis worked and getting covers & right sizing all took several weeks to shake out. And we have an efficient system for washing them. All those stresses and guesswork will definitely go away with a second child. Still sometimes I resort to disposables because they are easier - going out, night times and some hours for maximum possible absorbency. Hopefully as she grows into a "one size" type cover or diaper, hopefully even outings can be in cloth. The great thing is that rashes are not an issue and she certainly seems more comfortable. Hell, I feel better knowing there's no nasty, fake looking, heat generating chemical that she has to sit on.
I think the first two weeks was instinctual bonding and attachment. The weeks interim were haphazard and I had a few "lemmeouttahere" days, but now in Week 7, it's starting to be a lot of fun for us all. She being a part of me, a part of "us" is less intellectual and more instinctive now.
I'm starting to feel and understand the emotions of motherhood. It's a bit uncomfortable in how intense the love is. In my experience feeling so intensely about something has drawbacks - sets the stage for feeling hurt or pained. I've never had an easy time with loving - I always worry about either losing it or having it hurt me. And those fears tend to dampen to the joy of it. I wanted to have a child to better myself, so while this business of intense love isn't unexpected, I wouldn't say that it's particularly desirable. I'll feel better once I learn how to manage it in balance, but this is the sort of love that stays intense without being able to find an even keel.
Bottom line, it's very reasonable for new parents to prepare themselves for the first 6 weeks absolutely SUCKING. That's the only way it can turn out to feel a little better than it could otherwise. Life doesn't stop for it, and nor is it all bad, but the transition takes unpredictable forms, and the challenges will be unique depending on the level of preparation & the expectations. I can see how there could also be marriage stresses, especially if dad wasn't fully cognizant or sensitive to mom's emotions and transitions. Add mother's healing, baby personality, baby health & marriage issues to the mix, and the time off from work justifies itself - if nothing else for sanity.
Fortunately D is patient, loving and very giving of himself to me - I'm grateful for what we've built up as "us". For more reasons than just sharing baby joy & transition work, I feel blessed and very happy to have had my parents with us.
current mood:  optimistic
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| Sunday, June 14th, 2009
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6:01 am - Baby manual
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I've been thinking that infant-care is such a regular occurance for humanity that there just HAS to be some common-sense comprehension to it. Sure each baby-parent combo is doubly unique, but there simply HAD to be some science here. I would say that of all the books I've looked into (I spent too much time at the library & Amazon), this definitely comes the closest to being a "manual", despite its glaring disadvantages.
The secrets of the baby whisperer - Tracy Hogg (2005 ed. or later).
Two friends recommended the author to me. Just got it today (I've almost finished reading), don't know if it "works" yet, but there's just a lot of useful knowledge there. It gives words to & confirmed many of the things I've been instinctually guessing / wondering or picking up on by cobbling together multiple sources of information (which are often conflicting). Confirmation of anything is a big relief at this infant stage of guesswork. There are some specific issues baby & I have been having that Tracy Hogg does not cover, but there is enough information there that it sheds much light on what is part of regular infant patterns and what maybe specific to infection / temperament / let-down.
A quick review is that it is written by a nurse who self claims herself as a baby interpreter and an expert at getting babies into a structured routine with some predictability. Although the content is excellent, unfortunately, her tone is condescending and her style promotes follower parents to be knowitalls. If you can ignore her attitude and take her tips without guilt or insecurity, and adapt it for your situation, I think it really helps with more intelligent and aware guesswork. The usefulness of the info starts at birth, and has increasing applicability as the baby grows past 4kgs / 8lbs and 3 months of age.
In my opinion "What to expect in the first year" is far too basic. I grew frustrated with its lack of content very quickly and wish I'd gotten this book much earlier. There's just a lot of useful "baby science" info, even outside the book's goal of getting baby to have a recognizable pattern.
There are two major schools of parenting - attachment parenting & parent guided parenting. The first is recognizing that baby's "wants" are also his "needs" and basically doing everything according to baby's instinctual processes. The latter is directed more by parent lifestyle / convenience. Attachment parenting camp claims that the latter is cold and unnatural. The latter claim that attachment parenting can be blind and lead to all sorts of difficult to break bad habits.
I don't think that any parent can choose purely one or the other, so it's always a combo. I think the author's term "accidental parenting" is offensive, but I also believe that our personal ambitions and modern lifestyles are hard to fit to an "instinctive" style. This book leans far more towards the parent-guided parenting camp, however, it's thankfully humane. She does NOT advocate letting baby cry it out to "learn" (Ferber method = distasteful to me). She emphatically recognizes baby's needs and instincts, but helps parents understand the nature of baby behaviors (not just aimed at helping parents carve out a routine).
If it's an "easy baby", things may fall into place naturally & the baby will also be easy to understand. But if you don't, I think this book helps decode things.
current mood:  determined
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